»I am extremely pleased that with Prof. Simon, we have managed to gain such an excellent colleague for our Bauhaus Guest Professorship«, said the President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp. »The framework conditions of the digital revolution must concern us all, and the issue of digital ethics is a central aspect of this. Prof. Simon will provide us with significant ideas and insights on this subject«.

Artificial Intelligence, Computer Ethics, Philosophy of Technology and Science and Critical Big Data Research – Prof. Simon's fields of research cover a wide range of highly relevant social topics that are reflected in the teaching and research profile of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. For example, her research areas include value-conscious and responsible research, development and innovation. 

As a Guest Professor, Prof. Simon aims at expanding the perspectives on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence through several events, including public ones, and intends to bring epistemological, ethical and political aspects into the discussion. Among other things, she will provide insights into the processes of policy consulting and reflect and discuss the normative aspects of the digital age with members of our university. A lecture and a workshop are planned for early November 2019 as well as January 2020. Prof. Simon, together with scientists from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, will organise a public evening event as well as a workshop with participating students and doctoral candidates.

First public event with Prof. Dr. Judith Simon

Wednesday, 6 November 2019 at 6 pm
Introductory event for the Bauhaus Guest Professorship in the series of panel discussions of the University »Mensch Macht Moderne«
Introductory lecture entitled »Schöne neue Datenwelt? Ein philosophischer Blick auf Big Data & Künstliche Intelligenz (Brave New Data World? A Philosophical View of Big Data & Artificial Intelligence)« with panel discussion
Van de Velde-Building, room HP05, Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 7, 99423 Weimar, Germany

Professional Background of Prof. Dr. Judith Simon
Judith Simon was born in Lahn-Gießen and studied Psychology with minor subjects Philosophy, English and German Literature and Linguistics as well as Media Studies in Marburg (Germany), Waterloo (Canada) and Berlin (Germany). She received her Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Vienna. From 2003 to 2005, Prof. Simon was a research associate at the Jülich Research Centre at the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, and from 2005 to 2009 as well as from 2011 to 2016 she worked as a scientist and later as a project manager at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. From 2009 to 2011, she held a postdoctoral position at the Jean Nicod Institute, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris. In February 2014, she was appointed Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science and Technology at the IT University in Copenhagen. Since February 2017 she has been Professor of Ethics in Information Technology at the University of Hamburg, Germany. She has also been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, USA, the universities of Trento (Italy) and Ljubljana (Slovenia), and the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (CSIC-IIIA) in Barcelona. Prof. Simon is also a member of numerous commissions and working groups, among others for the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG), the German Ministry of Education and Research as well as the Leopoldina.

Bauhaus Guest Professorship
With the Bauhaus.Semester 2018/2019 and on the occasion of the Bauhaus Anniversary Year, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has established a Bauhaus Guest Professorship, to be awarded once a year, for one semester, which allows us to interact with some outstanding personalities. The Professorship is intended to modernise, promote, reflect and critically refresh the original Bauhaus idea. It follows the spirit of the State Bauhaus of 1919 by taking up pressing social issues of the times and providing new, creative and unexpected answers. Among other things, this is about bringing science, technology, art and design together as one. Bauhaus Guest Professors give public lectures, take part in panel discussions and provide workshops and other events for members of the university.

Further information can be found on the website of Prof. Judith Simon at
www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/eit/team/simon.html

For any further questions, contact Marina Glaser, M.A. M.P.A., Head of the President's Office, by phone on +49 (0) 36 43/58 11 16 or by email at marina.glaser@uni-weimar.de.